‘Ghost Train’ Bringing The Past To The Present As We Look Toward The Future

A walk on the Highline in Chelsea District of New York prompted a discussion of its history and how the convergence of trains, people, cattle and goods in this area of New York shaped the neighborhood. The elevated line has been preserved and is now a beautiful linear park.

This story with Jane Runyeon and Valerie Boom explores how the effort to reframe the space in order to preserve the history and impact of trains in America has evolved. The result of the evolution is the ‘Ghost Train’ project.

Jane Runyeon, a lifelong artist and educator, is from Reading. Reading is home to the Reading Railroad, and it is only natural that Jane stepped up to be the executive director of this important artistic collaboration that brings the past to life in the present. Valeria is an architect and artist, and Lynn Redding is a lighting designer and artist. You will meet Lynn in part two of this story.

Trains of the past come alive in the Ghost Train project in the most magical of ways. People’s lives centered around the railroad. The Ghost Train will enable us to imagine through art what life was like 100 years ago. An array of different mediums will be utilized to make the past come alive in the rail areas that are being preserved.

Imagine what life was like 100 years ago, alive and bustling in the rail areas that are being preserved. Find out how you might look at some specific areas of Reading as the rail areas are being re-imagined and preserved through art. Trains of the past come alive in the Ghost Train project in the most magical of ways.